Posted on 08/23/2011 5:05:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Santa Clara native was apparently prone to sleeping on guard duty; fellow Marines took to disciplining him.
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Harry Lew took his own life in his foxhole in Afghanistan after he was kicked and punched by fellow Marines, military officials tell NBC Bay Area news.
An investigation into the 21-year-old's April death says Lew "leaned over his M249 squad automatic weapon as it pointed to the sky, placed the muzzle in his mouth and pulled the trigger."
Lew wrote on his arm: "may hate me now, but in the long run this was the right choice I'm sorry my mom deserves the truth."
The suicide came moments after fellow Marines attacked Lew for repeatedly falling asleep on guard duty. An investigation shows Lew, from Santa Clara, was caught asleep at least four separate times in areas where "enemy attack was considered imminent." Military records show Lew, who was on his first tour in Afghanistan, was first counseled then disciplined by a sergeant for sleeping while on post.
At some point, Lew was forced to walk his rounds while carrying a single sandbag, symbolic of the weight of his responsibility to his fellow marines.
On April 3, Lew could not be raised by radio while standing post. A check of his foxhole found him asleep once again.
The unnamed sergeant then announced over the radio that "peers should correct peers," according to military documents. That led to what appears to be a sad series of events.
Fellow lance corporals [whose names have been redacted in the report] ordered Lew to dig a new foxhole as a punishment, then informed Lew he could go to sleep once the task was finished. Those corporals, however, did not inform the sergeant they had given Lew permission to sleep.
At 1:00 a.m., that sergeant, whose name has also been redacted from the report, "angrily confronted [Lew] about why he had again fallen asleep." Other Marines then demanded Lew to perform various physical tasks as punishment and would "stomp down" on Lew's back and legs if he failed to do an exercise properly.
"Towards the end of the physical training", the report says a "sandbag broke open at which point lance corporal [redacted] picked it up and poured the contents on Lew's chest and face as he lay with his back to the ground."
Convinced Lew was responding to his punishment with sarcasm and disrespect, fellow lance corporals then "kicked dirt on Lew, kicked him in the back of the helmet, punched him in the back of his helmet with a force that cut [his attacker's] knuckle."
At some point, a fellow Marine stepped in to stop the attack, saying he didn't "want it on his conscience if Lew killed himself" -- which is exactly what Lew did.
A sergeant is blamed in the report for giving responsibility for Lew's discipline to fellow marines.
"Further, he failed to intervene while those peers undertook inappropriate corrective actions." That sergeant faces court martial when the unit returns from Afghanistan, as does an unnamed lance corporal.
The military says unequivocally that Lew took his own life, though it the report does indicated more than one round was shot from Lew's SAW.
"This command mourns the death of Lance Corporal Lew" reads the final report. "His family and friends have my deepest sympathies" says his commanding officer.
Lew is a 2008 graduate of Santa Clara High School and was assigned to the 2nd battalion, 3rd marine regiment, 3rd Marine division.
His obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle says Lew wrote "Brand new Marine, feels good" on his Myspace page shortly after he joined the military.
Nail Head post.
A fourth time? YES! Either the man had a medical or mental disorder OR he just wanted too sleep and didn't give a Tinker D. If he didn't give a Tinker D that is what Brigs, Stockade, etc are for. Marine Brigs are not a fun place and few especially Marines want to go there. If he had mental or medical issues his falling asleep was likely only a small part of the risk he could bring others. Sleep would be a symptom..
In a previous post I asked about some reports troops deployed were being given happy meds. I don't know if it is true or not but if so that can do it. Worse it can cause a Serotonin Migration from stomach to brain and person thinks his unit is the enemy, satan, or space invaders, because it acts in the same manner on the brain as LSD if a bad reaction happens. This is known to happen with antidepressants. They are 100% more a potential danger too troops than say prescribed Ritalin which will prevent someone from serving. Halucinations become reality. It's not B.S. Kook theory it's brain chemistry scientific fact. The onset can come in literally minutes.
Suicide is not caused by punishing people for failure to do their duty. Folks debate how much is genetic, how much is depression, etc - but you cannot send all your depressed, unhappy guys back to the rear or you wouldn’t have anyone left!
Hey guess what? The military has plenty of doctors and shrinks to seperate the sick from the slackers. I say let them have a crack. If they say slack then C.O. should say Brig. It should not take four times.
I was on active duty Navy from 76-80 and later Army NG from 84-85. I saw many a person between 76-78 say well time to go home and that is just what they did. They went AWOL 31 days enough to be declared a deserter and went to another command for processing out with either a General DC or BCD usually General. The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines all had the issue. Believe it or not Rummy the man who started that policy when I was in tried to get it going again in Iraq.
I stayed my four years {now they have first timers for 8 if uncle wishes} and came home. The military despite all the problems was manned and ready.
The walk away active too civilian policy finally stopped under Carter. The government used retention incentives too keep those who wanted to be there and make sure everyone who signed up did their last obligated service day either in their command or in the brig.
Your story is a good one, and a convincing one. I do know that some young people have a bad case of B.R.A.T. and it can take some work to knock it out of them. Perhaps the suicide is giving many of us a good case of 20/20 hindsight, however, because brats don’t usually kill themselves. They’re far too fond of themselves for that. I don’t think this kid was the same as the one you knew, but... based on your description, I can see how someone could THINK he was. I don’t know if we’ll ever know.
Decreased appetite or weight loss; diarrhea or loose stools; dizziness; drowsiness; dryness of mouth; headache; increased sweating; nausea; stomach or abdominal cramps, gas, or pain; tiredness or weakness; trembling or shaking; trouble in sleeping
I suggest people consider that our own government could be creating dangerous battlefield conditions via medications which have no business being use in war zones or in the military for that matter. I stand by what I stated. Over deployment and intentional Low End Troop Strength Numbers meaning less down time even in war zones is causing problems. Do we demand it be fixed or instead just beat trhe crap out of troops?
True including the one in post 244. One pill can make a person do it. One prescribed by a physican pill can also make GI Joe begin too trip while in combat or be so dead tired he can't think much less stay awake. By trip I mean having halucinations.
“I don’t think this kid was the same as the one you knew, but... based on your description, I can see how someone could THINK he was.”
You are correct. He was different, and that is why he committed suicide. Could or should someone have noticed the difference?
I tend to doubt it. You can sometimes pick out that someone doesn’t have what it takes to function in a combat zone, but that is different from being suicidal. The one guy I knew who committed suicide seemed very calm and level-headed, with a successful career and happy family. There were only a couple of guys who knew he worried that he wasn’t ‘good enough’, and they shrugged it off because he had been very successful.
I know there are warning signs, but many are pretty subtle. If they get missed in colleges, then how much more so in a combat zone where your FOB gets shelled and you go out on patrols in bad-guy land.
In this case, the guys around him expected him to react ‘normally’ - to decide to work harder at staying awake because it wasn’t worth the grief if he did not. But he didn’t react normally.
Large FOBs will have a chaplain on staff, and limited medical support. Small ones might be visited by a priest or pastor 1-2 times/month, and many guys refuse to take their problems to them anyways. Sending problem children to the rear isn’t an option either. When I was there in 2007, it took a week for our team to reassemble at Bagram, and one guy followed out a week later because it was hard to get transport back to Bagram to rotate home.
There is a lot of soul-searching that goes on after a suicide, but most never get an answer. Given how many college kids kill themselves, I think it is a bit much to expect a junior NCO in combat to catch and deal with a potential suicidal soldier. If a college student living with a guy in the dorm can’t reliably catch it, how does an exhausted junior enlisted who also pulls guard duty and patrol, and who hungers for sleep so bad he can taste it, catch it?
It is not good that the guy killed himself. However, if I were on the court martial, the prosecution would have to convince me that a LCpl (E-3) in combat should have been able to detect that this guy would respond differently. If I were defending him, I would collect testimony that his treatment was well within the norms of an infantry unit.
You’re the one suggesting the guy had some medical condition to excuse his dereliction of duty in a war zone. You provide something besides conjecture.
One area where I might agree with you is on the use of drugs. The anti-malarial pills given could screw with a man’s mind. One major I met reacted with hallucinations and almost shot someone (before I got there). When they took him off the anti-malarial, he recovered and served the rest of his tour in excellent fashion.
In fact, I didn’t take my anti-malarial pills until it got warm and humid. It is spread by mosquitoes, and I didn’t see a reason to risk problems when it was freezing out...
However, they dropped that version of pill in 2009, so it wasn’t a factor in this case:
“The Army has dropped Lariam — the drug linked to side effects including suicidal tendencies, anxiety, aggression and paranoia — as its preferred protection against malaria because doctors had inadvertently prescribed it to people who should not take it.” - March 2009
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/army_lariam_032209w/
No, I’m the one suggesting that persistent falling asleep after some pretty intense “correction” would lead me to want to “rule out” (investigate first) a medical problem.
Persons with undetected or underlying neurological issues are a lot more prone to the reaction. Persons like myself. The doctors put me on them wthout doing a medical history pointing to neurological issues. It's on my medical records now no antidepressants. It was my wife I saw go into Serotonin Syndrome and six doctors missed it. Her neurological damage is obvious she is in a wheelchair.
When I figured out it was Serotonin Syndrome the doctor {who was not our primary care} said that is pure rubbish. I told him read the name of the author of the alert I handed him. It was his Pharmacology Professor for the university hospital.
My wife is as white as Casper and thought she was Della Reese or rather Tess on Touched by an Angel. She also thought she was dead and at her own funeral. She beat herself black and blue. This went on for days. SSRI's can take several weeks to leave the system after about a month of use. They are using some drugs in combat that should not be used there period. Another side aeefect possible is blocked bladder. Don't ask me how I know. Men have to worry about that taking antidepressants women do not. Once the bladder blocks you have a very short window of time to get a folley cathater inserted before Dysreflexia {shock} sets in.
Private Joe taking the meds may leave on patrol feeling great and well rested. By next morning he may think TOP is Lucifer. That is Joe's reality. Unless you've seen it happen it's hard to conceive.
The major you knew was very lucky. But as too the dangers of SSRI's? Ask most doctors and you get a blank stare. Serotonin Syndrome is not new but the huge increase of usage of antidepressants including service related means there are going to be some bad things happen. I'm not sure they could autopsy and tell for certain if this happened in this case. Serotonin is a chemical found in everyones stomach. It promotes digestion. When it migrates from stomach where 98% of it is supposed to be to the brain that causes the psychotic and neurological issues. IIRC it's also what makes your head hurt when you throw up.
If the Army or Marines are having to use these drugs too keep troops in the field then that is well beyond the proper usage the pills were designed for. Unless the doctors giving them out check for undetected neurological issues they could be arming a ticking time bomb.
In the civilian world the person might do a suicide by cop. In military conditions it could be far worse.
“Lariam wasn’t a factor here but SSRI’s or other class antidepressants possibly could be.”
Cmon now. “possibly”...”could be”.
You have know idea that this individual was on any medications.
Chances are he was not.
“Lariam wasn’t a factor here but SSRI’s or other class antidepressants possibly could be.”
Cmon now. “possibly”...”could be”.
You have no idea that this individual was on any medications.
Chances are he was not.
Nor do you that he wasn't.
Chances are he was not.
Good chance several in his unit were one could have been him. The Pentagon doesn't buy the stuff to put it on the shelf.
Excerpted from article:
Citing the Armys fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report, using an anonymous survey of U.S. troops taken last fall, Time wrote that about 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq and 17 percent of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope.
That is significant numbers.
Succinct, yes. Classy, not so much !
I’m surprised his squaddies didn’t “take him out”. Guess it shows present day Marines are diciplined and empathetic. >PS
Never in a million years would I take any anti-depressant or anti-psychotic. They scare me to death. I’d rather just be depressed and know that whatever is going on, it’s MY chemistry and not some synthetic one that may take me from bad to worse.
Here is why he wasn’t punished by the brass.
His aunt is Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park).
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2769124/posts
They are safe IF doctor, patient, and patients family understand them, know what too look for, and understand there are certain OTC meds you can not take. They have likely save many lives. Also certain underlying physical issues must be ruled out. Many if not a majority of what is being called mental illness such as depression and anxiety is actually a secondary condition created by a primary physical one. No doctor should tell a person who is depressed here have some antidepressants without a pretty extensive medical history and work up to try and find a physical reason first.
As for myself a low consistent dosage of Benzodiazepine Tranquilizer allows me to function and controls my seizures. I would not be able to leave my home otherwise my less do something like shopping. It's neurlogical damage causing it. The class of med I take also has a bad reputation especially Xanax the one I take. 16 years and I'm OK taking it my wife 26 years on it and it is likely what kept the antidepressants from killing her as Benzo's are the chemical antidote to Serotonin Syndrome. We and our doctors understand how to properly take the medication long term and it works fine.
The military is using drugs in war zones that do not belong on the battle field. If the person needs them they need out of the unit for treatment and due too the time frames involved in treatment likely discharged. Many persons taking antidepressants also have need of a therapist as well. This possible adverse reaction has been known since about the 1950's. They are using the meds too purposely get around Record Low since 1996 End Troop Strength issues thus saving money by deploying a the same troops into war zones many times. These are not Nam, Korea, or even in most cases WW2 length deployments into war zones. It's wrong.
Hi man, long time no see, but as a Snipe you know we stood fire watch every 3 days at sea, 4 hours after a 12 hr shift at anytime during the night, never came close to falling asleep, 130 shipmates depended on us in our berthing compartment. If I would have caused any deaths I would’ve wanted to die with them all if I had failed them, but none of us did. Don’t get the defense of this at all.
Tell that to the almost 18,000 dead draftees who died fighting in Vietnam.
Tens of thousands have died falling asleep at the wheel, including thousands of professional truck drivers and this has even occurred to airline pilots.
Humans are not machines nor are they perfect.
The young man should have been removed from the venue instead of what happened here.
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